


Being a Space Explorer with a Penchant for Getting into Trouble

by TrulyMightyPotato



Series: Welcome to the Dark Side [4]
Category: Star Wars, Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Acid Burns, Blood, I want to collect star dust, I would like a space ship though, Space Explorers, and I'm glad I did, but it was fun to write, has pretty much nothing to do with the other works in this series, injuries, that would be cool, tripping on plants
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-30
Updated: 2017-01-30
Packaged: 2018-09-20 19:57:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,077
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9510584
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TrulyMightyPotato/pseuds/TrulyMightyPotato





	

**Author's Note:**

  * For [PurrtlePuff](https://archiveofourown.org/users/PurrtlePuff/gifts).



PJ had always wanted to explore space. Sure, most of it had been explored long ago, but there were definitely places most considered too dangerous to really investigate. And most of the time then, the danger was only on the outer ring of the area. Usually, the insides were just fine.

Though there were times when he and his crew got past the outer ring of death and found more death and danger waiting for them, whether it be natural wildlife of a planet or pirates and smugglers who had set up base in the otherwise uninhabited area. Such things wouldn’t have happened in the days of the Jedi, but this wasn’t one of those time periods, so all of PJ’s crew was armed.

But anywhere there was plant life Phil hadn’t studied before, or couldn’t find records on, Phil would take samples of the plants and grow them in his lab, being careful with them. After all, any plant could be poisonous until proven otherwise. If a plant ended up being one of the ones that poofed poisonous clouds or something, Phil made careful notes of it, and what it looked like, and where they’d found it, and then (very sadly) destroyed it. If it was not one that poofed poisonous clouds or something, but still dangerous to the rest of the crew, Phil kept it in a special locked room. If it was totally harmless, Phil let it grow in pots around the ship.

PJ didn’t mind. Most of the crew complained about it from time to time.

Dan just kept tripping on the plants.

Cursing came from the hall, and PJ turned to see Dan pushing himself to his feet.

“Can you order Phil to either stop bringing plants on board or to get rid of some of these? It’s a jungle in here.” Dan shook his head, gesturing to the unassuming plant in the corner. “I’m tired of tripping on them.”

“You and Phil are the only ones who run into the plants.” PJ pointed out. “I’ve never had a problem with it.”

Dan gave PJ a flat look. “You don’t share a room with Phil. I can barely walk in there. When I sleep, I have to clear my bed of vines and leaves, and I can hear them batting at Phil’s nose when he sleeps. This has gone too far, Peej.”

PJ looked down the hallway, thinking. It was a short hallway, this one, probably only fifty feet long, but one would pass about twenty plants when walking down it.

“I see. I’ll consider it.” PJ smiled at Dan. “You ready for this new area?”

“Are we going to have to fight our way out of an ambush again?” Dan flopped in a spinny chair and began twirling back and forth slightly. “Because I don’t mind the near-death situations, I really don’t, but I’d rather not hear Phil gripe about how his samples got damaged again.”

PJ shook his head. “How am I supposed to know? It’s adventure, Dan, that’s what it is. Ambushes are an occupational hazard. As is hearing your coworkers complain about when things happen to their work.” PJ smiled.

Dan rolled his eyes. “Great. Can I at least sleep somewhere else, then?”

“Dan.” PJ sighed. “You use the plants that grow in your and Phil’s bunk. That’s why they’re stored there.”

Dan shrugged. “Well, yeah, but I didn’t want them to get this big.”

PJ shrugged back. “Take it up with Phil. And don’t come back later and complain that you can’t make any of your special medicines because there’s not enough of a given plant.” 

Dan pushed off extra hard and spun all the way around. “Alright, Peej. Fine.”

PJ shook his head, returning his attention to checking systems. Hiring Phil as a plant scientist to document new plantlife and see what it could do was one of the best decisions PJ had ever made. When Dan had hired himself as the ship medic, apparently as a package deal with Phil, he’d proven himself an invaluable addition almost instantly when he showed he could made medicines from some of the plants Phil grew. Sometimes, you just couldn’t synthesize things, and (according to Dan) sometimes you didn’t want something synthesized.

There were normally other crew members on PJ’s exceptionally fine and lovely ship, the  _ Cardboard _ , but they were temporarily not coming on any of the exploration journeys, due to various family things, illnesses, and fears of the First Order blowing up another planet system.

Things like the First Order weren’t enough to stop PJ from exploring, though. He was incredibly grateful Dan and Phil had come along. The two had claimed they didn’t want to leave PJ alone (Dan, specifically, had said something along the lines of “If we don’t come with you, you’re going to end up dead in space somewhere,” to which Phil had added “And then we’ll be sad”).

“Since you’re here, let’s do the basic analyses.” PJ said. “Get them backed up.”

Dan nodded, twirling to the display next to him.

Every single piece of information on the  _ Cardboard _ was backed up in case something happened to the main system. Such as a crash, or losing a fight. The first wasn’t very likely to happen, but, as Dan would sometimes point out, the more fights they got into, the more chance they had of dying from one.

Well, thus were the hazards of being a space explorer.

“We’ll need to be careful with the third moon.” Dan said. “It’s got some spectacularly deadly storms going across it right now.”

PJ nodded. “The planet itself is definitely a gas planet and not just one with a thick atmosphere.” He continued analyzing it for a few minutes. “We don’t have the ability to survive the pressure, and we’re not close enough for me to be able to tell what the core is made of.”

“Another mystery for someone with the proper equipment.” Dan shrugged.

“It’ll be years.” PJ sighed. It would take them at least a few months to finish mapping the system, if not a year, and then they had to get back to already mapped space and get their additions published. And they weren’t even doing super in-depth analyses on these planets, just enough to determine what the atmospheres were made of and who could go exploring the planets later on when they wanted to. Sure, Phil would be taking as many plant samples as he could, but he still wouldn’t be able to sample every plant on the planet. He just didn’t have that kind of capability.

Besides. Their job was to find where the planets were, determine the basics of what was on them, and continue onwards. They simply didn’t have the resources required to do anything super more than that-- that would take dozens of ships, at least, and years of work. It was a valuable profession, but PJ was more interested in the exploring part than in the complete analysis part.

“They’re completely developed planets, Peej.” Dan rolled his eyes. “Out in the unexplored territory. Nobody is going to be destroying these guys. They’ll be fine.”

“I know.” PJ looked at the gas giant again, once again feeling the urge to learn more about it than his ship could tell him.

The two fell in silence, working quietly.

“Have you seen Phil at all today?” Dan suddenly asked. “His bed didn’t look like it had been slept in at all.”

“He’s trying to get the last of the samples from last time analyzed and catalogued.” PJ said, referencing the planet they’d finished collecting samples from the week before, the one just barely earlier in the system. “He was almost done last night, though, so I would have expected you to at least find him sleeping in the other bunk this morning.”

Dan shook his head, then stood. “I’m waiting for data to be collected, so we might as well go check his lab.”

PJ nodded, standing from his own twirly chair.

Installing those in the  _ Cardboard _ was both the best and worst decision PJ had ever made. It was terribly comfortable for when they were focused for hours at a time, but everyone always ended up twirling back and forth to some degree. Even in the middle of battle. And there was nothing wrong with that, but you didn’t think “space battle with smugglers and pirates” involved a scene of “the crew twirling frantically on their chairs trying to do everything they need to do and then Dan falling off his chair because he twirled too fast or it was still broken from the last fight”.

The memories slowed him some. That ended up being a good thing for PJ, seeing as Dan again tripped on the pot of one of the plants in the hall and PJ, had he been walking alongside Dan, would have been hit by Dan’s frantic wheeling before Dan slammed into the sharp edge of a panel with his arm. Dan cursed, and blood smeared across the wall.

PJ sighed, then reached down and hauled Dan to his feet. “How bad is it?”

Dan moved his damaged arm -- the left one, unfortunately -- and carefully examined it. All the damage was below the elbow, fortunately, but the strip of raw and bleeding skin ran all the way to Dan’s hand, and a fair amount of his palm, and the outside edge of his hand near the pinkie finger. “It’s nothing dangerous.” Dan murmured, flexing his fingers and grimacing. “But it will hurt for a while.”

“Let’s get you patched up.” PJ, gripping Dan by the elbow, steered Dan towards the medical lab on board. “Phil can wait a little longer.”

Dan didn’t argue (much), but he did take his arm back and walk himself down the hallway. “I can take care of this. You make sure Phil hasn’t had an accident.”

PJ nodded. Sensible plan. “I’ll be back to check on you.”

The two split, going different ways down the hall -- Dan to his lab, PJ to Phil’s.

The door to Phil’s lab was closed, which was instantly worrying. Phil’s door was almost always opened, and he didn’t even lock it at night. But the door was locked, too. Which meant he was doing something dangerous. Like examining a poisonous plant. Or one that liked to eat people.

PJ knocked on the door. “Phil, everything going okay?” Maybe Phil had accidentally locked it.

Silence.

PJ sighed. He would need to override the lock on the door if Phil didn’t answer again. “Phil?”

More silence.

PJ sighed, but put his override into the door lock. “I’m coming in, Phil.”

The only response was the hiss of the door sliding open, revealing lots of greenery. Greenery, of course, was a loose term, since the plants kept here were all sorts of colors and not just green.

“Phil?” PJ started walking to the back of his lab. Was he smelling...acid? Frowning, and moving slowly, PJ looked around the corners. He needed to make sure something hadn’t broken, or that Phil wasn’t unconscious on the floor.

Then he froze and picked up his personal comm. “Dan, come to Phil’s lab. Bring your medkit.”

“On my way.” Dan answered. “How bad is it?”

PJ walked closer to the still figure on the floor, noticing the tears in Phil’s labcoat, the the unmistakable tinge of blood on them. Broken glass crunched underfoot, and the smell of exposed acid was definitely here.

“I see glass and smell acid.” PJ said. “Phil’s on the floor.” He glanced at the counter, where a half-dissolved planter and a burnt whither of thorns and vines sat in a puddle of goop and blood. “It looks like a plant attacked him.” He glanced at the smashed shelves across from the plant goo. “Phil probably fell into shelves. I don’t know what broke when the shelves did.”

Dan wasn’t responding to PJ, but the more information PJ gave Dan, the more prepared Dan would be to deal with this when he got here.

PJ cautiously crouched next to Phil, taking a pulse. Phil still had one, but his breathing was raspy and moist, and blood flecked his lips. Not good.

PJ glanced at the broken shelves again. Phil had likely crashed into them when he’d fallen. That would have been noisy -- the only reason someone wouldn’t have heard it was if PJ had been checking the equipment. Like he had earlier.

PJ cursed silently. That meant Phil had been injured for a good hour and a half. He easily could have died over an hour ago.

Dan’s footsteps approached, then Dan crouched on the other side of Phil and put the medkit bag down. Dan’s arm, notably, was still bloody ard raw.

“Can you treat him with that arm?”

“You’ll have to help me.” Dan opened his bag, then glanced up. “Pull off his coat. I have to be able to see him.”

PJ complied, getting the lab coat off as far as where the tears in the sleeve were, at which point Dan offered a pair of scissors. 

“Cut if off.” Dan mumbled the words around the pins he was holding in his mouth as he wrapped his arm. 

As the clothing was cut away, angry and puffy red welts and cuts came into view, wrapping all the way up Phil’s right arm. Threads from Phil’s shirt and lab coat were embedded, dried in blood.

“Good. They clotted the bleeding.” Dan pinned his own bandage in place, then placed his fingers near Phil’s collarbone. “Pulse is too fast, but it’s decently strong. Acid burns all over his shoulder and neck here. Roll him over.”

As soon as Phil was on his side, back facing Dan, Dan made a face. “Acid burns here, too. Cuts from broken glass, not very deep.” Dan touched the back of Phil’s head, as if he was petting it. “No blood on his head, but he still probably banged it pretty hard.” Dan paused, leaning close to Phil’s head. “Sounds like he breathed acid vapor, maybe. Could have been something the plant did.”

Dan shoved the glass on the floor aside, then rolled him back onto his back. “I can give him a much more thorough examination in my lab. None of my portable supplies are really going to help him much.”

It took a bit of effort, but PJ did manage to pick up Phil and carry him halfway across the ship, Dan continuing to check Phil for things like fever and if his blood was actually reaching his skin or all parts of his body (which involved a mutter of ‘this would be easier to do if you weren’t so pale, Lester’ and an annoyed expression).

“Just put him on the bed.” Dan gestured to the unfeeling metal-framed medical bed near the corner of the room. Well, there were several of them, with counters and equipment nearby each, but PJ just assumed Dan meant the closest of the treatment areas and carefully set Phil down while Dan hurried about in the background.

“How can I help?” PJ asked.

"Get out.” Dan didn’t even bother looking at PJ to answer.

“Excuse me?”

“Go clean up Phil’s lab or manage the rest of the ship or write in your journal or something.” Dan shoved a box of seemingly random things on one of the counters before placing more easily recognizable bits of medical equipment next to them. “I really don’t care. Just get out and let me do my job.”

PJ moved towards the exit of the room, then paused as Dan moved to Phil and busily started working. He should -- no, Dan would call him if Dan needed help.

PJ sighed, but turned and walked out.

He might as well get some of his own work done.

\-----

Six hours passed before PJ got any news, during which time he’d cleaned up Phil’s lab, cooked a meal, and started cataloguing the moons’ basic information.

Moon #1 had no atmosphere, but lots of places to hide. Not some place PJ wanted to investigate without a full crew -- it was the perfect place to hide from the law.

Moon #2 had a toxic atmosphere. Plant life, though, also likely toxic to humans. And very, very hot.

Moon #3 was safe to explore, at least on the basis of atmosphere and temperature.

“He’s awake.” PJ’s comm jumped to life.

PJ jumped to life himself, hopping from his chair and pretty much running to Dan’s lab.

“No, you can’t get up.” Dan sounded annoyed, and PJ wasn’t even in the lab yet. “I’m still not sure you’re going to be fine.”

“Da-an.” Phil complained.

“It’s what you get for getting hurt.” No, Dan sounded more angry than anything.

PJ stuck his head in the door to see Dan standing next to Phil’s bed, one hand firmly on Phil’s chest and the bandages wrapping it. Well, PJ hadn’t been expecting to see Phil shirtless and wrapped with bandages, but they’d all shared a changing room before, so he wasn’t at all shocked by anything he was seeing. Besides, Phil did have a blanket on him from the chest down.

“I need to clean up my lab.” Phil protested. Then his eyes landed on PJ. “Peej, please convince him to let me up.”

“I cleaned up your lab.” PJ stepped into the room and approached them. “At least, most of it. The rest can wait until you’ve healed.”

Phil made a pouty face. “But Peej --”

“I’m not going against Dan here.” PJ shook his head. “You’ve got time to heal, don’t worry. We’re not ready to land on anything yet, much less do a basic investigation.”

Phil hesitated, then sighed, then nodded and settled into the bed. “Alright.”

Dan shot PJ a grateful look and leaned against the nearby counter, looking absolutely exhausted.

“Rest.” PJ pulled out his Captain’s voice for the order. “Both of you. I’ll keep an eye out for trouble.” PJ smiled as they both nodded. He could watch the stars and make guesses as to what future explorations would bring while they rested.

Then, when Phil was healed enough (by which time Dan’s arm was certainly going to be healed), the three of them would continue their jobs as space explorers (with a talent for getting into trouble).

It was the best job anyone could ever ask for. Not even Jedi could beat this.


End file.
